Dark Souls Legends
by XepherFlame
Summary: An adaptation of Dark Souls, the story follows three characters who, through their own adventures and paths, becomes the heroes who'll save the land of Lordran. After the fall of a friend, Decker is now alone in his escape, forced to face whatever lies in the Asylum himself. Will his friend's passing give him the will to survive... or only despair? Status of story: Possible revival
1. Chapter 0  Reborn

Hungry... Alone... Forgotten, or worse, ignored; These words run through the mind of the captive who resides in this dark prison cell, the only source of light coming from the hole in the ceiling. He prays for no rain, but seeing as how things have gone so awry so such a little amount of time that he didn't count on counting his blessings for long. For better or for worse he had been left for dead, thrown in this forsakened building dubbed "Undead Asylum," a place where Hollow, a condition for someone who had lost their Humanity, is tossed away from society to rot.

Normally, when one becomes Hollow, they lose their minds, sprouting nonsense from their foaming mouths as their meat withers away, their skin being the only thing covering their bones. Seeing as these people are deemed dangerous, it seemed appropriate to lock them away from everyone else. But, this particular young fellow, despite being a Hollow himself, doesn't seem to show any signs of losing his mind; Though his meat had been gone for a while, which would betray his lack of Humanity, he always hid his body in black leather armor, covering his face with a black hood and face mask; With this appearance hidden and mind full of rational thought, surely no one would suspect him of being deemed "dangerous" to society.

Nevertheless, once word got around that there was a Hollow around town, it wasn't long until the Black Knights found him. He tried to escape, running about town, ducking in alleyways and abandoned buildings, trying to escape capture, but eventually the Black Knights surrounded him with weapons, ranging anywhere from a simple sword to that of a great status, drawn; Looking back, the young (though, really, you wouldn't know it if you saw him) man thought, he was lucky that they didn't just kill him right then and there for resisting arrest and causing such a ruckus. But as time passed on, for what could've been interpreted as an eternity to him, he started to wonder if death would've been so bad; Death by sword was usually quick, as the man knew all too well, but rotting away in a desolate place filled with crazed Hollows? At least his death would've been public had he died in the town square; Who would even care for him here?

He surmised he was a lot way from town however. When he was captured, the Black Knight, after taking away his weapons, kicked him hard in his stomach, bringing him to his knees, before bounding his hands with rope and tossing him like a ragdoll into the back of a carriage, bound to the land of Lordran. The ride there was long and treacherous: Hands bound, the young man was not fed, shielded from the rain, nor was allowed to sleep during the whole trek; Had he complained of anything, especially the last, he would be given a sound smacking. The Black Knight who escorted him cared very little; After all, after realizing that this particular person just HAPPENS to be one of the most wanted man in the city, if not the land, he was about to bank the amazingly huge bounty on the Thief/ Assassin's head.

Which is it? Thief or Assassin? Well, truth be told, this young man was both of them; He stole the grandest of items, from the most colorful, flawless jewels to prized swords and shield of nobles, selling them all for a nice, tidy sum of coins, all to line his pockets. However, stealing can only get you so far; After all, once one stole all there is to steal, what is left to steal? This is when the young man turned to hit contracts and assassination to pump up his riches; Who knew there'd be so many people who would hire one to kill another? And it's not like there's any shortage of people to kill; Someone always wants someone else dead. Even the young man had been on the opposite end of the contract, though clearly they never succeeded, allowing him to rise in infamy, forcing officials to resort to a public bounty on his head, forcing many people to turn their attention to him.

But now that he was caught, they no longer cared about him, though truth be told they probably didn't care about him as much as they did his bounty; Though the young man never saw the bounty himself, he suspected that it must've been quite a lot given what he had done. It dawned on the young man that, despite being rich enough to practically own a small town, no amount of money would get the young man out of this situation. He realized this long ago, of course, but he constantly thinks about it all the time (especially now, as, after all, what is there to do?), wondering, that, if he could relive his life, would he make the same choices? There were times when his hits were questionable, sure, but some of them questioned his morals and how far would he go: Not to go into details, but he could never forget the scream of a mother whose daughter died right in front of her. Was the money truly worth spending most of the night awake, hearing every bloodcurdling scream over and over again as he wakes up in cold sweat every so often?

But not only did the young man questions his actions, he even questions his guilt; Does he truly feel guilty, or does he only feel that way knowing that he's going to die soon? Given the chance, would he really not have made the same choices? After all, while the choice between riches and the death of someone was clear to him, when his thieving jobs were scarce and food even more so, which was worse: The screams at night or the loud grumbling of his stomach? That's when he realized that, while he most likely wouldn't make a different choice in his life, because of what he did, he now felt as if he MUST do something good in order to redeem the lives he took, regardless whether or not he took them out of necessity or sport. Then again, all of this redemption is moot if he couldn't get out...

That's when, seemingly out of nowhere, an Undead body drops from the sky, landing right in front of the young man.

"Huh," he mutters to himself, "You don't see that everyday."

He looked up at where the body came from, the hole in the ceiling, and saw, after adjusting his eyes to the sunlight that poured through, a soldier in grey armor staring back at him. Their eyes connect, the first person he'd seen in a long while, before the soldier walks away, possibly tending to other matters. The young man, deciding to check the body, lifts it up and finds a sword hilt that had broken off when the Undead's spine was stabbed, presumably of course, and secures a key attached to it. He tosses the body back to the ground, deeming it worthless now, and uses the key to unlock the door that imprisioned him. He pushed the rusted piece of metal aside, free from the cramped confines of the cell, and out on to the surprisingly narrow hallway. Not that it matters to him however; He had been given a second chance at life.

And he wasn't going to waste it.

[Chapter 0 - Reborn]


	2. Chapter 1 Hollow Halls

[Chapter 1 - Hollow Halls]

The sound of footsteps echoes throughout the halls of empty prision cells as the young man treks through, with nary a weapon but the hilt of a blade. Nevertheless, despite knowing that it might as well be a mere toothpick against, well, anything really, he grips it tightly, trying to relax his mind a little by at least PRETENDING that there's a blade in his hands. After all, the young man had to have put bread on the table, or at least as close as a small plank of wood in a dingy old abandoned building could be, with his skills of using a blade; His confidence overwhelms his fear of the unknown.

Actually, it wasn't unknown what lies ahead... In fact, it downright scares him, to the point that venturing the unknown WOULD be better for him; He walks through the halls where they capture and condemn creatures called Hollows. A Hollow is any human who lost their mind, sanity, and flesh from losing their Humanity. Humanity was essentially the equalivant of a soul; Any being without one might as well have lost its soul for it would not be complete without either. Unlike a soul, however, Humanity isn't exclusive to any one person; Anyone could gain a sample of Humanity, provided that they didn't go Hollow straight away from losing their Humanity.

The young man, after walking around a corner, sees a Hollow sitting in the middle of the hallway, his back resting on the corner and his head bent down, as if praying. The young man proceeds with caution; He is well aware that, while some Hollows are known to attack on sight, some Hollows, having lost their minds, simply stays where they are at, drooling liquid out of their mouths, possessing no knowledge to close said mouth. As the young man draws closer to the Hollow, he mumbles something that the young man couldn't hear, or rather, something that no one could understand.

The Hollow, noticing the young man's presence, raises his head and stares at him, prompting the young man to hold his sword hilt like a weapon. It is a funny sight, seeing as how the sword hilt is about as effective as a broken stick (yes, an actual stick would be better), but the young man didn't care; If he needs to spring into action, he'd take anything. Fortunately, the Hollow didn't seem to mind the young man, simply ducking his head, resuming to his act of mumbling to himself. The young man stands at his stance, holding the hilt with his right hand and holding with right hand with his left, for about half a minute until he is sure that no harm would come to him from the Hollow. After sighing a breath of relief, the young man continues on his way, more creeped out by the Hollow's actions than anything else; Had the Hollow attacked, the young man would've put him down right then and there, leading no loose end. However, he hadn't, ignoring the young man as if he was the passing wind, one who would disappear as quickly as they had appeared.

It's been said that this particular young man, who walks pass the Hollow into the other halls of Northern Undead Asylum, is Hollow, with his proof hidden behind his mask: A face, and body, of nothing but skins clinging to bones. To those who can put two and two together, if this young man lost his Humanity, shouldn't he be a Hollow like the one in the hallway, coping with having lost one's mind by never realizing that it's been lost? He could've been, or rather, he SHOULD'VE been, had he not have been cursed; The young man was branded just more than a thieving, bloodthristy Assassin as he possesses a mark on his body dubbed the Dark Sign. The Dark Sign is a terrible curse on one; Those bearing the mark of the Dark Sign will not die upon death, instead, upon trading the Humanities and Souls that they collected from various monsters, or humans, they would be reborn again.

You could say that this is a blessing, that being able to come back after death would be wonderous, especially being able to preserve some of your humanity, but it's a double-edge sword; While you could have the chance to come back to life, you would lose all chance of reaching the after-life, being doomed into live in the mortal world where death is in every inch of the world. Not only that, the Dark Sign isn't permanent, and in fact, deals a harsher punishment than death: Becoming a true Hollow, a state of being where one could not feel pain nor pleasure, think any thoughts, and essentially, rather than be executed for sweet, sweet death, be left alive for others to fear (and mock for the twisted few). The young man shudders at the thought of becoming a true Hollow; He thought that it'll never happen, but then again, he thought that he'll never leave his prision cell; It was an ironic train of thought.

After traversing hallway after hallway of the Asylum, he finally comes into a door that leads to the outside. Feeling hopeful that he'd be able to leave this place, he rushes towards the door and kicks it open, having thought of escaping that accursed place. However, to his dismay, that hope was false as he now stands at the courtyard garden that's apparently in the middle of the Asylum, as four walls of stone surrounds the green square of grass. He breathes a sigh of despair, somewhat depressed that he still has much to go, and shuts the door behind him. It isn't all bad for the young man though: He hadn't seen the outside world for a great deal of time, so being able to take in the sunshine and fresh air is a blessing.

Seeing the numerous pile logs of wood that lays in the middle of the garden, the young man figures

that this must be a bonfire that the guards rests in during their break; After all, they would need a change of view after being in that dark, cramped Asylum for so long. However, it seems that it hasn't been used in a long time, which wouldn't be unreasonable, seeing as how this place must've long been abandoned. Nevertheless, the young man, feeling that he probably has nothing to fear at the moment, decides to light up the bonfire and take a breather; He's been walking through the halls of the Asylum for quite a while, and he couldn't very well escape if he lacks the strength. Of course, while he fears for his safety, he also knows that he'll be safe resting here at this bonfire, as it is particularly special; Holy flames resides in this bonfire, sheltering all who seeks it.

While the young man didn't know all of the details, he recall some of the things he heard from the scriptures: Like the flame within the bonfire can only be awakened with an offering of humanity, the flames would protect those who reside in it for as far as the flames could light, and that it would heal all the wounded and sick. Still, he supposes that this must be enough knowledge and decides to rest at the bonfire by lighting it; Imitating from what he seen Church priests do, he kneels down on one knee, bows his head in grace, places his left hand on his heart and his right stretched out over the bonfire, presumably to offer his Humanity. And just like that, a small flicker of ember appears in the middle of the bonfire before bursting into a huge flame, again, presumably, taking the offered Humanity. While ANYONE could light a holy bonfire, everyone more or less fears losing their Humanity and becoming Hollow, lest there be a small amount of people who do do it.

While the young man isn't wounded, he feels himself rejuvenating as his strength seems to come flowing back into him, allowing him to regain his energy. As he rests, he wonders about the way out, where his gear might be stashed, and where he would be going, but he decides not to think too deeply about it; After all, this is the first time in a while that he's been comfortable and, although he plans to leave soon, he isn't so stingy as to trade time for rest. He finds himself wanting to take a short nap, possibly due to him being imprisioned in a small cell for so long, making him prone to being sleepy, but after a few more minutes of soaking it up the warmth of the fire, he stands up from the bonfire and continues on his way; He doesn't put out the bonfire, knowing that he'll need to offer Humanity in order to light it again.

He searches the area for a way out; Aside from a locked side door, the only other door aside from the one he came through, was this huge set of double doors north of the bonfire. Huge was an understatement actually; The doors was roughly 20 feet, being four times the height of the young man, who wonders how he could open it. While seemingly a daunting task, once the young man pushes one of the doors, he finds that the door was surprisingly easy to open, giving way despite how heavy the door seems. Once inside the room, the young man looks around, seeing nothing but a pile of urns and barrels scattered here and there. In the middle of the room, there is a huge, square indent on the floor, not unlike a tiny pool for small fish or a smaller version of a bathhouse. As the young man walks inside, stepping into the room, the door immediately slams right behind him, prompting him to turn around.

Not knowing that his true threat would be right in front of him...


	3. Chapter 2 Accursed Asylum

As if the loud slam of the giant doors wasn't loud enough, the loud boom that echoes throughout the room almost scares the young man to death... Though the sound would be the least of his problems as a giant monster wielding a giant hammer crashes through the wall north of the room, creating a huge gap in the wall. Through the hole, as the young man could see, is a beam of sunlight, meaning that the young man is so close, and yet so far, from escaping this accursed place. But he doesn't seem to have enough time to lament as the huge monster starts to swing his giant hammer around.

[Chapter 2 - Accursed Asylum]

The monster, who looks like a fat reptile with numerous horns on his head and tiny wings and a huge, hard tail on his back, swings his weapon with great force, enough to kill any man outright. But the young man is nimble and quick; He ducks underneath the swing and avoids the impact entirely, although the same can't be said for the wall; The hammer collides into the wall and smashes the stone apart, creating a giant hole for the hammer to fit through. However, the hole must be a one-way only path as the hammer gets stuck in the wall, causing the monster some grief. The young man, deciding to take advantage of this opportunity, runs past the numerous vases that are scattered throughout the room and tries to escape via the door that he entered from, but finds that its locked.

"What the hell!" he exclaims to himself out of fear, "It wasn't locked before!" He pounds on the door a few times, as well as screaming for help, in a vain attempt to call out to someone, but to no avail; He is locked in a room with a monster and no one could help him. The monster eventually wriggles the hammer out of the wall and grasps it in his hands again as if he pulled out Excalibur from a rock. Using the tiny wings on its back, it pulls himself up and hovers above the ground, with its rocky-like tail dragging behind him. Once he gets high enough, to which the young man questions outloud with "How the hell is he doing that?" obviously a jab at the monster's weight, the monster stops flapping his wings and drops to the ground, landing on its buttocks, and smashes into the ground.

The young man, after deciding that the door isn't going to open, moves out of the way just in time to avoid the impact of the butt slam, but the impact of the shockwave is enough to force him to stumble, causing him to trip on the ground. As if that isn't bad enough, the vases also shook when the shockwave from the impact was created, and the vases now tips over and falls over. While many of them falls into the ground, cracking them into pieces, one in particular rolls in the young man, causing him to get trapped under its weight. He tries to pull it off of him but to no avail; It is simply too heavy.

The monster, eyeing the man who will become his next victim, raises his hammer high into the sky and, with drool coming from its grotesque mouth, proceeds to slam it down on the young man. Perhap due to the panic and stress of being killed, the young man musters up enough strength to lightly tip the vase out of him, rolling it to the side, allowing him to escape the impact of the hammer, with the vase taking the hit for him. The monster shows his disappointment but he doesn't let up the attack, still swinging away, with each swing getting dangerously closer to the columns of pillars holding the ceiling up.

"Whoa whoa," the young man shouts out, "You're going to kill us all!" But regardless whether or not the monster hears or understands him, he continues his assault, desperately trying to claim the young man's life. He goes into a swing-happy frenzy, crashing his hammer all over the place from the walls to the vases on the floor as the young man duck, dodge, and rolls out of the way. Perhaps it's because of all the vases in the room that he didn't see a door of regular side off to the west of the room, possibly being a safe haven from the monster. He decides to make a dash for it, but not before taking his broken sword hilt, which he is still carrying at this point, and tossing it at the monster's face, hoping to distract it.

It didn't work; The sword hilt was still too worthless even as a distraction, only serving to anger the monster even more. However, with the destination in mind, the young man sprints to the door with all of his strength, with each footstep harder than the last, drastically using all of his stamina to escape. The monster, using it wings, has taken flight and glides to the door as well, presumably to stop the young man as the monster could not let his prey get away. As the young man gets closer and closer, the monster, upon realizing that he wouldn't make it in time to stop the young man, throws its arm back and tosses the hammer at the young man, hoping to at least subdue him. The young man, upon being within a few feet of the door, leaps off the ground and dives towards the door, making past the doorway.

The hammer, which was catching up, didn't make it in time and collides with the wall surrounding the door. The impact of the hammer toss has caused the cage-like door of the doorway to slam and lock the young man in, forcing him away from returning to the room. Not that he would go back, mind you, especially with the monster, after picking up his hammer, tries to look through the door, and upon seeing the young man, tries to fit his stubby fingers through it, like a bird trying to get larva from the trunk of a tree. The young man, although disgusted with the face the monster is making, knows that he is safe for the time being, allowing to take a breather, and make a joke, before moving on.

"Anyone ever tell you that you're ugly?" the young man says at the Asylum Demon, what he's going to call it, "And judging from your hammer, I'd say someone's compensating..."

The young man moves on in what seems to be the sewers of the Asylum, judging from the layout and the smell. While the wet, murky water didn't bother him, the smells penetrates even though his face mask, forcing him to make a face of disgust as he holds back outright puking; While he had nothing but gruel to eat since his time here, he wouldn't dare try to puke with his facemask on, especially since its the only piece of equipment that hides his Hollow status. Speaking of equipment, within the sewers is a box that lies within the waters that, upon the young man fishes out, reveals to have contained the young man's equipment.

He couldn't tell whether or not he's happy to have found his equipment, or that his equipment is so bad that not even the Black Knights, who regularly steal equipment and such to fence, didn't want it. Regardless, he has his equipment back now, which comprises of only a few things: A small, sharp silver Dagger, a small Parrying Knife, and his most essential piece of equipment despite looking like the most useless, a glove, specifically, the Pyromancer's Flame glove. The glove is something of a catalyst of sorts that allows people who trained in the art of Pyromancy to summon a flame. While some people can summon a flame without one, those inexperience with the art, or those who wish to remain cautious, keep the gloves on as to control the flame within, lest it shallows the person whole.

And that's a fate that no one trained in the art of Pyromancy wants to happen; Being burned alive isn't even half of the bad things one would experience should it happen.

The young man, after gathering the knives and gloves, puts the glove on his right hand before deciding to wield the silver Dagger in his right hand and the Parrying Knife in the other. Now that he has a weapon worth using, there is no doubt on his mind that he could escape, provided that he doesn't run into any Black Knights or that Asylum demon again. However, within a few steps of finding his equipment, he runs into a narrow hallway, where a path of dirty water from the asylum trails into the sewers, and sees at the far end an Undead Soldier aiming a bow and arrow his way. Upon seeing the young man, the Undead Soldier aims his bow and sends an arrow at the young man, forcing him to take cover behind the wall dividing the narrow hallway and the sewers.

Upon the miss, the Undead Soldier decides to aim his bow and shoot again, hoping to get the young man if he pops his head out. The young man, thinking that he'll be shot and killed on sight, decides to hold back at the wall, thinking about what to do. That is when, out of nowhere, he hears the sound of a piece of metal slashing through flesh, followed by the screams of an Undead. Confused, the young man peers his head out and sees that the Undead Soldier is slain, and that a man in silver armor retrieves his sword from its body.

"Thanks for that," he says outloud to the young man in the sewers, "He surely would've gotten me had you not have been an excellent distraction." The young man, upon hearing these words, walks out of the sewers to greet the armor-clad soldier, who greets him with a friendly gesture of a wave.


	4. Chapter 3 A Chance Conversation

The young man feels a little too uneasy letting down his guard, lest he end up like the ironically dead Undead Soldier that lies before him. Then again, upon recognizing the fellow Soldier clad in armor as the fellow who helped the young man out by dumping the dead Undead body, with the literal key to his freedom, down his way, what reason would this Soldier be an enemy? Had he wanted to kill the young man, it would've been for no reason as, due to the young man's Hollowed status, he had no Humanity to take, he could've just left him for dead. And if this man really wanted to kill him, he would've jumped down to the cell and, upon cornering him, stab him right in the heart.

Still, given his profession, the young man knows better than to trust someone that he just have met, but, because of the same profession, the young man had to have also trusted complete random strangers before... And, if it means anything, at least this relationship is off to a good start.

[Chapter 3 - A Chance Conversation ]

"I ask again," the Soldier apparently repeats, the young man noticing that he must've spaced out in thought, "What is your name?"

The young man, carefully steathing his trusted blades, casually replies "Decker... Decker Young." He doesn't seem to mind if this man knows him or not; After all, now that he's out and properly equipped, he seems confident that if it comes to blows, he would be the one who walks away in the end. Of course, it's not like he WANTS it to come to that, as evident by his actions to put away his weapons and to give him his name, but it still, it comforts him.

"Decker huh?" the Soldier seems to be somewhat familiar with that name, looking up towards the sky with his chin being held by his thumb and index finger, "It sounds familiar... From where do you hail from?" No doubt he asks this because of Decker's vague answer; It is usually customary when someone mentions their name that they state their hometown afterwards.

"A town far away from here actually," the young man, apparently named Decker, replies, "I recently came to Lordran." He had thought about giving the actual name, but considering the fact that this man was a soldier, he is probably never seen the outside of Lordran, and as thus, would not have heard of the city from where Decker is from. And so, Decker decides to skip a few lines of dialogue by just going straight to the next step.

"Oh, really?" the Soldier asks quizzingly, "What brings you here?"

"A Black Knight actually..." Decker mutters under his breath, hiding a smirk underneath his facemask before answering out loud, "I guess you could say I needed to make a pilgrimage..." It isn't a lie, per se, as he is on a pilgrimage to redeem the sins that he carries on his back, but it isn't why he is in Lordran in the first place. _Whatever_, Decker thinks to himself, _It's not like he's a priest_.

"But enough about me," the young man turns the conversation around, "What of you?"

"Me?" the young Soldier asks, as if he forgot that he hadn't given his own name, "My name's Oscar of Astora." He bows with his right arm lying flat across his chest, showing a sign of respect of both his hometown (upon mention) and courtesy to his new friend. Decker takes a closer look at Oscar: He sees that the fellow is covered from head to toe in Elite Armor, a piece of armor made with the finest steel for protection, with scant pieces of cloth in various places, most noticably around his neck; A red piece of cloth surrounds his neck, done like a choker, adds some much needed color in his attire, though Decker thinks that, even with the fancy design of his shield, which shows a crest, fashion is the least of Oscar's concern.

"You hail from a royal family?" Deckers asks, as its the only logical reason why Oscar would have such class and flash.

"You've a keen mind on you," Oscar must've smiled underneath his helmet.

"Well, you sure aren't trying to hide it," smirks Decker, "You're wearing a fine silk cloth, albeit ripped and tattered, around your neck while donning a shield with a huge crest designed on it."

Oscar laughs a little out loud, showing his thanks for Decker noticing his possessions. "This choker," he starts to explain, "Is the remains of an embroidered cape showing off the family crest. When the cape got destroyed, I simply had the crest etched on my shield." He tugs on his choker and lightly taps his shield with his sword as he mentions what they were. "Fine pieces of equipment, no?"

Decker opens his mouth to respond, as if to compliment his gear, but they spent way too much time with their idle conversation; From behind a corner, a few wandering Undead Hollows starts creeping in, much like those "living dead" creatures in horror stories told around the bonfire, and, upon seeing the two, starts stares vacantly with their mouths open before snarling, leaping towards them. They charge ravagely, desperate for who-knows-what (souls, Humanity, take your pick), hoping to kill the two standing there, not having enough wits on them to realize that they have no hopes of winning.

"I guess we'll see," smirks Decker as he readies his stance by brandishing a Parrying Knife in the left hand and a silver Dagger in the other, which just so happens to be wearing a Pyromancer's Glove. Oscar says not a word; He simply uses the shield to cover himself up while hoisting his blade from behind. No doubt he is smiling underneath the helmet; After all, they say the best bonds of friendship usually form in the heat of battle.

As one of the Undead comes within range, he jumps up in the air and tries to attack Decker, but Oscar comes right in and bashes the foe with his shield, knocking him away. The shield is made from a very strong metal alloy, as evident by the sound of broken bones from the impact, but it is seemingly lightweight enough that Oscar could wield the hunk of metal with such ease. And his sword isn't fragile neither; As Oscar strikes down on the fallen Undead, with the blade stabbing into the chest, the sword crushes through all of the bones, meaning that Oscar didn't have to be precise with his attacks.

Decker, on the other hand, uses a Parrying Knife to stab another incoming Undead right in the chest, where his heart would've, or rather, had been. The blade pierces through so easily as Decker slides it between the bones, no doubt owning to his experience. But it isn't enough to stop the Undead, as evident by his constant flailing of arms, so Decker, with his free hand, uses the silver Dagger and slashes open its throat, instantly killing it. Decker then pulls the Parrying Knife out of the body and kicks the body towards the other enemies, knocking some of them down, hoping that it would give the two some breathing room.

But it didn't; While some of them indeed got knocked down, some of them weren't in the way, and are still charging for the duo. Decker readies his blades for another counter-attack, hoping that maybe just one of them would relent, but as they ran in, Oscar once again bashes them with his shield, protecting Decker. Decker, wearing only black leather armor, is quite vulnerable for combat such as this; Leather armor is lightweight enough to move around in, but, while it can soften the blow of a blade and offer some resistence, for most part it isn't ideal for huge combat scenarios such as this. Oscar, on the other hand, is clad in armor, which can translate much attack from blades and such into blunt trauma, giving him some leeway such he get hit.

So when the Undead who jumps on Oscar and tries to bite down on him, his armor shields them from their teeth, which is broken easily; The Undead didn't realize that he is covered in metal, or what metal is for that matter, so they bite down with all their might, not realizing that it would've ended badly. Oscar, twisting his body, punches the Undead off of him with the gauntlet that held his sword, breaking its face, before slashing the two Undead right in front of him.

So while that's three kills for Oscar, compared to Decker's one, Decker isn't going to let it be known that he is a slouch; As the next one charges in, Decker jumps and kicks the Undead in the chin from below, stunning it momentarily before ducking down and sweeping his feet across its, causing it to stumble to the ground and fall. As soon as the head touches the ground, or rather slams into it, Decker plants his Parrying Knife through its eye socket, killing it, before throwing his Dagger into the eye socket of a nearby Undead, taking the last one out.

"I think that's all of them," Oscar takes a breath of relief, stowing his blade into its steath, "That is some nice fighting there Decker."

"Thanks," Decker replies as he puts away his things, "I'm glad you were here; Had I been alone, I might not have made it." He didn't say this out of pessimism or out of respect for Oscar's abilities; If the Undead jumped Decker alone, he might've been overwhelmed by their numbers, and if the small dings in Oscar's armor from the bite marks are of any indication, he might've been devoured, though, Decker didn't think that he would've tasted good or filled anyone up, being a Hollow like them after all, sans keeping his Humanity and wits on him.

"With fighting chops like yours, I'm sure you would've figured out something." Oscar tilts his head up slightly, showing his version of a smile. What he said, in contrast to Decker, WAS out of respect for his abilities. Decker smiles back, taking the compliment. He didn't give one back however, though it isn't because he is rude or anything, but Decker knows that this attack might've been the result of idle chit-chat, and as such, suggests that they should go. Oscar doesn't seem to mind not being paid a compliment; He simply tilts his head up once more, his version of a smile.


	5. Chapter 4 Suffering Savior

[Chapter 4 - Suffering Savior]

"Ugh," Oscar makes a sound of disgust, "I can still smell it."

"Smell what?" Decker asks curiously as they continued walking towards further into the Asylum.

"I don't know what," Oscar couldn't put a finger on it, "At first I thought it might've come from those Hollows we fought, seeing as how they've been stuck here for gods knows how long... But we left their rotting corpses a while ago, yet this scent still lingers."

Decker blushes underneath his facemask, or rather, he would've if he had the flesh to produce that red tint, as he reveals the source of the smell. "Sorry," Decker apologizes, "It's coming from me; I had just gotten out of the sewers, you see."

"Oh that's what the smell was!" Oscar exclaims not of disgust, at least this time, but out of finally knowing what the scent was. "Good thing I didn't go down there then," Oscar tells Decker, "That smell would've clung to me like a tin can full of sardines."

"And then I would've had to eat you," Decker chuckles jokingly, though admittedly, he is hungry; After all, he had been locked up for quite some time, and escaping a huge hammer-wielding monster, traversing through a catacomb of sewers, and fighting a group of Hollows definitely whets up an appetite.

"Perhaps, though I'd like to see you try to bring a can opener to a fight," Oscar eggs him on light-heartedly. Decker chuckles once again, this time out of feeling a sort of... kinship... with this fellow knight. Maybe it's because of their banter together, or the fact that they shared the same side in a battle not long ago, but Decker feels somewhat at ease with Oscar, allowing him to lower his guard.

"Anyway, where are we headed now?" Decker asks him.

"Into the heart of the Asylum, I suppose," Oscar shrugs.

"Why?" Decker expresses his skeptism, "Why shouldn't we try to escape this place? Actually, while we're on the topic, why are you here anyway?"

Oscar takes a few moments to consider answering his question. It's not as if he is planning to lie to the young man, in fact he wants to tell the truth, but he feels that his answer may not be satisfactory, or worse, embarassing. "Don't laugh," Oscar pleads, "But I was told that something valuable is down here in the Asylum, and that if I don't want the world to be ushered into darkness, I need to find it."

Decker double-take as he hears his answer. "You're telling me some crazy fortune teller told you to come down here to prevent the end of the world?"

"I know it seems funny," Oscar admits, "But she told me that the world will be plunged into darkness unless I find... Whatever it is I'm looking for... And bring it to the outside world."

"And that's it?" Decker expresses his skeptism once again, "She doesn't tell you what the item is, what it does, or even what to do with the damn thing?"

"Nope," Oscar answers, "She told me that once I find it, my journey will end."

"Really?" Decker shrugs, "That's it? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were taken for a fool."

"Haha," Oscar laughs, "Perhaps, but something good came out of it, no?" He obviously referencing his newfound friendship with Decker, whom he pats on the back to ensure Decker gets the underlining point loud and clear.

As the two walks the cobblestone path, they eventually reach another part of the Asylum building. The entryway is unlocked, thankfully, so the pair opens the door and walks back inside the dark, murky darkness of the interior. From where they are, they can see several jail cells lining the walls, all free of prisoners, and several staircases leading up and down. Some of the jail cells and staircases were ruined to the point that they no longer serving their purpose, like a criminal could easily escape his cell by walking through the huge opening in the side of the wall. Also due to the destruction of the Asylum, there are many holes in the interior that leaks into the outside, such as a hole below them shows the bonfire that Decker had used earlier.

As Decker and Oscar walks forward to explore, they both decide not to stick too close together, in order to avoid another ambush. In addition to that, they both try to walk quietly and keep their voices down, for their sounds would echo throughout the building and alert the hordes of angry undead Hollows. Oscar, hoping to look for the object, decides to search the jail cells for any items while Decker goes on ahead to look for a way out. Decker goes around looking for any unlocked doors or staircases that were stable enough to hold them both.

"Aw, nothing," Oscar expresses his dismay as he finishes searching a corpse of one of the prisoners; All he found is a bloody knife in the palm of the prisoner's hand upon seeing the trail of blood that leaked from the prisoner's wrist. He tries very carefully not to touch even a speck of blood on the prisoner, hoping not incur a "vision," since the cause of death of the prisoner is seemingly clear enough.

With nothing left to investigate in the cell, he gets up off the ground and leaves the tiny room to find another. Along the way, however, he notices something most peculiar: There is a huge huge in the wall on the side of the next jail cell with dried blood all over it. Oscar immediately looks the other way in order to find out what could have caused this little "scene," but all he sees is Decker walking on the staircase leading up.

"I'm going to see if I can find a way out from here," Decker calls out quietly as Oscar nods back in response; Oscar doesn't want to worry Decker of something that's probably nothing to care about, but nevertheless, he needs to investigate this. With a deep sigh, he places his hand on the bloodstain, which causes him to react unusually; His body shakes with tremors as he keeps his hand on the bloodstain, seemingly for an unknown reason, but only after a few second of this "episode" does he immediately takes his hand off and shouts.

"Decker!" He runs back towards Decker, who stops dead in his tracks in the middle of the staircase leading to the next level.

"What's up?" Decker asks of him, completely unaware of the Undead Soldier smirking behind him as it pushes a huge boulder down the staircase; Only when the boulder hits that first step does Decker recognizes what's going on, and tries to run down the stairs in order to save himself. However, the sudden burst of speed that Decker conjures in order to escape causes him to trip over his legs, falling down the staircase, injuring his ankle badly. Furthermore, with the rate of speed that the boulder is travelling, there is no possible way that Decker could get back up in time to move out the way.

"No!" Oscar shouts as he runs over to Decker, picks him up, and pushes him out of harm's way, saving his life. Decker rolls over and stumbles on the ground with the wind knocked out him. After catching his breath, he starts struggling to get back up despite his broken ankle, to go thank Oscar for saving him from the boulder. But when he gets up and turns around, Oscar isn't there, much to his horror.

"Oscar!?" Decker shouts, no longer afraid to alert the enemies seeing as how the boulder might have done that already. The boulder had smashed through the indent that Oscar was investigating earlier, so Decker decides to check for Oscar there. As the Undead Soldier comes down the staircase to finish the job, Decker grabs one of his daggers and tosses it at it's legs, so that it stumbles down the stairs like Decker before it, and stabs it right in the cranium with his other dagger. "That's for not killing me," Decker says it regretfully as he limps on over to the jail cell.

As soon as he walks in, his worst fears are confirmed: Oscar is sitting next to the boulder, which had hit him so hard that it bounced off of him. Despite the heavy armor he wore, steel is no match for a giant rock, and as a result, Oscar's body is banged up like a crushed up tin can, with his blood seeping out of the cracks and slits of his armor. Oscar looks up at Decker as if trying to smile at him, albeit weakly. "Hey," he utters out with his exhausted breath, "You okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Decker answers back softly, "I mean, you're a lot worse off than I am."

"Funny that I'm the one who got hurt more," Oscar struggles to laugh, "Considering that I'm wearing a ton of armor." Decker senses that Oscar is in tremendous pain, if it isn't obvious from his injuries, but Oscar's trying to get the situation from appearing gloomy.

"That's going to make it harder to carry you out of here," Decker explains as he limps on over to Oscar, "You want me to take off your pants or do you want to be a big boy and do it yourself?"

"What, not even going to buy me dinner first?" Oscar jokes back.

"Sure, you like roasted Undead?" Decker flashes his Pyromancer's Glove, igniting a tiny flame with a flick of a wrist and a snap of his fingers.

"I rather have something to drink," Oscar takes out a tiny flask with only a tiny amount of liquid inside. He flips open the mask portion of his helmet, revealing his Hollow status to Decker, and takes a final hit of his flask, emptying the contents into his mouth. With a sigh, he tosses the flask to Decker, who manages to catch it despite being throw off guard.

"Take this," Oscar gives him, "It's an Estus Flask, some kind of a magical bottle that heals your wounds." He isn't lying when he says this: Estus Flasks are a special bottle that can heal even the most deadliest of wounds. However, the existence of the bottles are questionable at best, and yet Decker manages to see one for himself.

"So does that mean that you're going to be okay?" Decker asks, seeing as how Oscar had drank some of the contents recently.

"Sorry," Oscar shrugs, "There isn't enough for it to completely heal me. At least it'll numb the pain, for now."

"Where can I get more?"

"I saw a bonfire downstairs," Oscar remembers when he first enters the room and sees the bonfire from the holes in the building, "Take this bottle of water, pour it into the flask, and then dip the Flask into the bonfire itself. Fish it out and bring it back up here."

"Got it," Decker tells him before heading off to go downstairs. He hurries despite his, because the commotion must've drawn the attention of other Undead enemies, but no matter how fast he goes, it's futile, and Oscar knows it. As Decker leaves the premise in order to "save" Oscar, he thinks back to the fortune teller, recalling that she said that "when he finds what he's looking for, his journey will end." He even smirks to himself as he realizes why the fortune teller had given him the Estus Flask, and why she insisted that he take it and keep it on him at all times.

"I guess I've done my job then," Oscar smiles to himself once more before he drifts from consciousness. The scorched ring on his body, the Darksign, which is the symbol of a cursed Hollow doomed to repeat death over and over again, fades from existence as does he.

And even though Decker is at the bonfire, trying to fish out the Estus Flask dwelling inside, he senses Oscar's death, and upon feeling his departure, understands his true intentions for lying to him: It was to keep Decker from seeing a newfound friend die right before his eyes.


	6. Chapter 5 Brooding Blood

The water tastes funny.

There's no reason why it should: it should be just regular spring water from what Oscar told him. Sure, the water may have been bottled into a flask and dipped in a holy bonfire lit aflame after a token sacrifice, but it shouldn't taste any different. Maybe it's because Decker hadn't had a decent drink of water in ages, surviving off of the rain water that falls through the hole in his cell... but then again, this water is much more cleaner than that; if anything, this drink should taste even better by comparison, so why does it taste funny?

Maybe it's because he had no one to share it with.

Funny, Decker surmised the irony: back when survival depended on whatever rats or gruel he could get his hands on, he would've hated the idea of sharing his resources, especially when he's in an asylum full of crazed lunatics. But after meeting Oscar, someone that was actually normal enough to carry a conversation for a change, Decker was starting to warm up to the idea of keeping company. Yes, Decker is a wanted Assassin, and as such never affiliated with anyone who could stab him in the back and bring him in for his bounty, but after being locked up for so long time that he feared dying alone, the idea of company didn't sound so bad.

And now, he was alone again.

**[Chapter 4 - Brooding Blood]**

Checking his equipment once more, which consisted of a now dull Parrying Knife, a barely blunt Dagger, and a worn out Pyromancer's Glove, Decker sets out to find the exit of the Asylum. As Decker backtracks up the stairs in order to proceed forward, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sad as he passes by the scene of the accident: the boulder left a giant hole in the wall, and judging from the pool of blood that marks the point of impact, Decker is sure that Oscar is no longer with him. While he never confirmed his death, only speculating his demise through a stir in the air, his wounds were grave enough to ensure that he would bleed out by now.

Feeling as empty as the Undead that wanders the Asylum, Decker walks on by, unable to give Oscar the proper burial he deserves through his Pyromancy: due to the heavy armor, Decker would spend hours lugging his body outside, and igniting a big flame indoors would cause the smoke to probably attract more of those Undead monsters, and if Decker gets swarmed in close quarters...

Speaking of getting swarmed, Decker decides to look up at the stairs where the boulder fell to see if any more of those things exist. True to his suspicions, Decker could see a single, lone Undead standing at the very top, the very same that must've set up that fatal trap. Maybe it's because of the angle, distance, or light shining behind the Undead, but if Decker didn't know any better, he could swear that the monster that killed Oscar was _smiling_ at him, smiling as if to say:

"Aw... You miss your little friend?"

Anger welling up inside Decker to the point of no return, he pulls out his Dagger and charges up the steps without a rational thought in his mind. Not to be taken down so easily, the creature draws its bow and arrow, threatening to shoot Decker right in the heart; it's too bad that when he fired that bolt does Decker swipe it away with the Dagger like a fly to a swatter. Leaping into air to use the aid of gravity for added strength, Decker plunges the knife into the Undead's eye socket, blackish blood spewing off as Decker removes the blade.

Past this single enemy lies a couple more just beyond the door to the rooftop balcony. Though without eyes, they still notice the spectacular death of their comrades as they draw their weapons and run close. Still enraged by Oscar's death, even if he had avenged him, Decker rushes towards the other two in blind fury. Running and then sliding on his knees to avoid the swing of one's blade, Decker slashes the tendons behind the Undead's leg, flips the blade, and tosses it at the second Undead, hitting it right in the heart. As Decker gets off of the ground, he immediately leaps for his blade as the first Undead resumes his onslaught.

Acting just in time, Decker manages to retrieve his Dagger and use the dead Undead as a meat shield to absorb the blow of the blade; luckily for Decker, the Undead's apparently blunt blade just barely penetrates the body, leaving Decker completely unscathed. However, the Undead creature tries to ram the sword deeper and, as a result, overwhelms Decker with its strength. Unable to pull it off of him, Decker is forced to backpedal behind him further and further his back is right besides a door entirely made of fog; it isn't until Decker kicks the monster in the groin does he leave it wide open for Decker to plunge his Parrying Knife into the Undead's abdomen, finally slaying the demon.

However, as the Undead slumps dead, the weight of it's body adding on to the body that Decker is holding, finally culminates enough to knock Decker through the foggy door. Though he passes through it just like any old regular fog, the bodies oddly stayed behind the veil, leaving Decker alone to face something he didn't expect to see back (or back of): to his surprise, Decker lands on the back of the Asylum Demon, the very same one that ran Decker out the first time with its huge hammer.

"Hm?" the beast seemed to growl as he tries to scratch its back.

Since Decker is small enough to be considered a tick to the demon, he avoids being squashed like a bug by rolling away from its giant hands; then again, seeing as how his back isn't that huge, Decker inadvertently rolls off the monster, landing somewhere off to the side, the sound gaining the Asylum Demon's attention. Smiling a wicked smile, the demon raises up its giant hammer, hoping to bring it down at the insignificant bug that lies before it. But if Decker is to be considered any type of bug, it would have to be a firefly: Decker, raising his hand (though in more of a panic than any other emotion), summons a fireball that he hurls to the demon's eyes, temporarily blinding it.

In a frenzied panic, the beast swings the hammer around like a madman, hitting any of the stone columns in its path. At first, Decker was to shout for the beast to stop but, thinking of no other way to tackle the monster, decides to run with it: taking advantage of the beast's lack of sight, Decker starts tossing fireballs from behind the columns, tricking the monster into smacking the pillars with its hammer; Decker even manages to get the monster to strike at the door, rendering it locked. Eventually, after doing enough damage, parts of the building's integrity crumbles as does the walls, the resulting debris crushing the monster like a bug in an ironic twist of fate.

Through the monster remains alive, albeit its body tombed in stone with guts spilling out of the sides, Decker makes sure it isn't going stay that way: he walks over to the helpless demon and using the highest level of Pyromancy he knows, burning the face of the demon. With the stone crushing its body, the monster could do nothing, not even scream due to its chest being compressed, as Decker mercilessly slays it. Whether or not it suffocates from the flames, or it falls from the blood loss, the monster eventually lies lifeless, its soul staining Decker's as he walks away without a word or quip.

Taking the door leading to the exit, the lock rendered useless due to the monster's wild rampage, Decker finally leaves the Asylum... Or at least, he thought: the door leads outside, as evident by the wide open sky, but it also leads to a cliff with seemingly no place to go.

"Of course," Decker, feeling defeated, mumbles to himself, "This is an Asylum for the Hollow: no one here ever leaves."

Taking a look behind him, Decker stares vacantly at the Asylum once more, whispering under his breath "Not even though who aren't crazy" as he recalls Oscar's death.

"Some 'second chance, huh?'" Decker remembers his desire to live when he was sitting in his cell all alone. Now adopting a more empty look on life, Decker couldn't help but feel... fascinated by the view: there's nowhere to go but either back to the Asylum, which is no doubt filled with Undead minions investigating the "accident," or towards the cliff.

Walking towards the cliff feeling as dead as the monsters, or victims, he slayed, Decker couldn't help but entertain the thought of jumping over the edge as he peers over it. Not even needing to know physics, Decker could tell that the drop is certainly high enough to do him in. Glancing behind him one last time as the screams of the Undead calls for his blood as they rush out to meet him, Decker turns his head back, takes a deep breath, and proceed to walk over the edge of life and onto death.

At least, that's what he thought when, suddenly, a giant crow snatches him before he reaches terminal velocity, saving his life.


End file.
